Van Wolfswinkel has shone so far in the Portuguese top flight, adapting quickly since landing from Eredivisie outfit Utrecht in the summer for a fee of €5.4M.

Already Sporting look to have bagged themselves a bargain and, as well as Manchester United, Correira da Manha report that the striker has piqued Liverpool’s interest.

Van Wolfswinkel, son-in-law to Dutch legend Johan Neeskens, has bagged four goals in five league games, combined with two strikes in the Champions League thus far this season.

His agent though believes there is much more to come from the 22-year-old, despite the already fine nature of his performances.

"We have not seen the best of Ricky", said Louis Laros to A Bola.

"He can do much more. He’s still in the process of adaptation.

"He feels really good."

Liverpool had been linked with Van Wolfswinkel when he still plied his trade with Utrecht and indeed came close to submitting a bid. Question marks remained however over the forward’s ability to reproduce the goods in the tougher environment of the English Premier League.

While success in Portugal will not completely erase that doubt, scoring on a regular basis in two very different countries can only bolster the case for Kenny Dalglish to swoop.

And if the Scot chooses to, then he could well face opposition from bitter rivals Manchester United.

Van Wolfswinkel is under contract with Sporting until 2016 and his buy-out clause is set at €22M.